One Baltimore retailer is garnering national attention for powering America’s economy.

Jim Adams, founder of Falls Road Running Store, is the Judge’s Choice Award winner for the National Retail Federation’s “This is Retail” video contest. This is the first year of the NRF’s video contest, which asked retailers to create short videos about the role their businesses play in the economy.

Adams’ son, Andrew Adams, 25, is a filmmaker in Los Angeles. When the younger Adams found out about the contest, he called his dad to encourage him to enter, offering to put together the video.

He called and asked “Would you invest in a round trip ticket to see you and mom for the weekend?” Jim Adams said.

The two worked together on the video concept and the entire process of filming and editing took four days, Jim Adams said.

But working with a professional had its unique challenges.

“It was a lot more complicated than I thought it was going to be. He made me do it over and over again,” Jim Adams said, noting the various humors and more serious takes they filmed.

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Baltimore’s entrepreneurs want a helping hub, according to a study released earlier this month by the Innovation Allian ce of Baltimore.

More than 85 percent of the 170-plus people surveyed said they would use a “hub,” a communal space for meetings, mentoring and educational programs to connect the area’s entrepreneurs.

The hub would removes barriers “to community and connectivity” and “could not only fill the gaps identified in the survey, but emerge as a new model that measures itself by job generation and wealth creation that is replicable and sustainable,” the report said.

The Alliance also held a town hall meeting with entrepreneurs, investors, attorneys and other community members and professionals.

The $75,000 study was paid for by Baltimore’s Abell Foundation. Burtonsville-based Facility Logix conducted the study and provided recommendations, including how the proposed hub should operate.

You can see the full report here.

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What do Edward Miller, CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, John C. Inglis, deputy director of the National Security Agency, and Stephen Martino, director of the Maryland State Lottery, have in common?

They’re all Eagle Scouts – and your boss might be one, too.

A study by Baylor University found that men who earned the distinction of Eagle Scout, the highest ranking in the Boy Scouts of America, are about 39 percent more likely than other scouts to hold a workplace leadership position and about 55 percent more likely than non-scouts to hold such a position.

The study also analyzed the effects scouting has on other facets of life, including one’s likelihood to volunteer and donate money to charity and closeness in personal relationships.

Only about 4 percent of Boy Scouts reach the Eagle ranking, including more than 375 young men in Central Maryland annually, according to the Baltimore Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

See the full study here.

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Baltimore’s quasi-city agency that oversees development has posted a detailed job description for its soon-to-be-vacant head job following the retirement of M.J. “Jay” Brodie last month.

The Baltimore Development Corp. is seeking a “well-qualified economic development official” as president and CEO, a post that also holds a seat in the cabinet of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the job posting on the BDC’s website says.

Rawlings-Blake will hire a replacement for Brodie, who is stepping down after 16 years, subject to approval of the City Council.

The ideal candidate, the job posting says, will have “strong leadership qualities and possess thorough knowledge and experience in urban economic development, a passion for business and real estate development, and demonstrate a successful track record in the strategic planning, implementation and completion of complex projects, business negotiations and organizational restructuring.”

Among the other duties, the candidate is responsible for:

– Creating a strategic economic development plan with the BDC board of directors, mayor’s office and public and private partners
– Recruiting new businesses and supporting existing businesses that create job opportunities for city residents
– Providing business assistance and opportunities for minority- and women-owned and small businesses
– Facilitating new commercial development projects in Baltimore
– Actively and strategically marketing Baltimore as a premier urban location to do business and real estate development
– Actively advocating for public policies and development projects that support Baltimore’s economic growth

Brodie’s salary in 2009 was $204,175, according to the latest federal documents with BDC compensation on file.

Applications will be accepted through April 6, the posting says.

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Call me behind the times (actually, please don’t), but I hadn’t heard of smishing until 6:24 this morning, when I received a text message from “Wal-Mart,” directing me to a website and offering me a $1,000 gift card.

A little Googling later, I learned Wal Mart issued a statement on March 9, warning about a “smishing” scam –  a scam that uses SMS text messages to lure customers into divulging personal information. It’s the latest twist on identity theft schemes, capitalizing on the popularity of smartphones.

Smishing usually happens in one of two ways: random, digital dialing or through phone numbers entered when making online purchases, said Tom Bartholomy, president of the Better Business Bureau of Southern Piedmont in Charlotte, N.C., whose group issued a statement warning about the scam.

Online retailers often sell contact information to “like-minded” retailers, and the information moves from business to business “until sooner or later it ends up in the hands of people like this,” he said.

“We hear from a lot of cell phone users who are going ‘This is crazy, I never used to get these kinds of things until a few months ago,’” Bartholomy said.

If your number is on the National Do Not Call Registry, companies shouldn’t be contacting you, but that won’t stop scammers, Bartholomy said.

“When you’re in the scamming business, you’re already breaking the law, you don’t care about the Do Not Call Registry,” he said.

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Ladies and gentlemen, get your coin purses ready: The first 100 slot machines arrived Wednesday at the Maryland Live! Casino in Hanover.

Having the machines up and running on the casino floor “really brings some reality to how close we are to the completion of this project,” said Rob Norton, president and general manager.

“Every day, pretty much from here all the way to the latter part of April, we will be moving machines and continuing to expand the casino floor,” he said.

About 2,000 machines are being stored at a nearby facility — Norton isn’t disclosing just where that is — where they are tested and configured before being brought to the casino, located at the Arundel Mills mall.

The slots will include Monopoly, “Wheel of Fortune,” “Sex and the City,” “The Wizard of Oz” and Hot Shots, as well as a full line of quick hit and progressive machines, and electronic game tables.

The casino is slated to open with 3,100 slot machines in June. By the fall, the $500 million casino will reach full capacity, touting 4,750 slot machines – the most of any casino in the state.

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Sprinkles Cupcakes, the Beverly Hills-based bakery that started a dessert revolution, may have just done it again.

By Friday, the company hopes to have its first cupcake vending machine up and running, dispensing its palm-sized treats 24 hours a day.

The first one will be at the original Beverly Hills store, but the company plans to install the pink ATMs in every city with a Sprinkles bakery, spokeswoman Nicole Schwartz said.

Though that doesn’t bode well for Marylanders — our closest Sprinkles is in D.C. — it got me thinking: What local favorite would you want at your dispensing disposal?

My vote might go to Dangerously Delicious Pies, especially when sour cherry’s on the menu.

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Changes are coming to the Rotunda in Hampden and to the Light Street Pavilion at Harborplace, and East Baltimore residents rallied again in protest of EBDI. Those stories and more in this week’s business top 5.

1. Rotunda changes loom – by Melody Simmons

Outside the stately Rotunda development in Hampden Tuesday evening, the late winter sun set against a clear sapphire sky, offering a peaceful view.

Inside, the scene was less serene.

A group of local residents and business owners gathered for a meeting on the future of the mixed-use development that opened in 1971 as a retail hub in North Baltimore.

2. A big renewal for Harborplace – by Maria Zilberman

Right now, there is sawdust and only a handful of retail stores and restaurants open for business.

But come Memorial Day weekend, officials are hoping that an invigorated — and 95 percent occupied — Light Street Pavilion will greet Inner Harbor tourists.

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New restaurants come to West Baltimore and Arundel Mills and a new (and controversial) fountain coming to Union Square are among the most-read business stories of the week. The list also includes the Baltimore Grand Prix receiving new management. The Top 5 business stories of the week are:

1. Panera Bread opening on W. Baltimore St. — by Daily Record Staff

Panera Bread, a national chain of fast-casual restaurants, plans to open its third location in Baltimore City Wednesday at 400 W. Baltimore St., a retail redevelopment project across from the Hippodrome Theatre.

More than 50 full-time and part-time employees are expected to work in the 4,671- square-foot restaurant.

2. Suns could set on Hagerstown — by Maria Zilberman

The majority owner of the Hagerstown Suns has signed a letter of intent to move his minor league baseball team to Winchester, Va., but citizens in that community are pushing back against the idea.

The potential move comes after Major League Baseball and the Washington Nationals, with whom the Class-A Suns are affiliated, requested improvements to 82-year-old Municipal Stadium, where the team has played since 1981.

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